poisson

Le poisson d'Avril creates havoc in small schools all over Europe. In France school children cut out small pieces of colored paper in the shape of fish and slap them on the backs of their comrades in class. This is the day when small devils dance. When the jokers from each and every card pack jump from their tiresome duties, away from the seriousness of all those Kings and Jacks; the sad looking Queens. This is their time to play.

Every year on this day I call my friend Bernard (Poussey) Tessier at the Chateaunoir outside of Aix-en-Provence. Yesterday, I told him that I had returned from Australia but had gone out on a fishing trawler for a week off Spain to catch tuna, telling him that I was calling from the ship's satellite phone...... Last year I said that I had again returned and was actually eating Bouillabaisse at a restaurant in Marseille..... I've learned to pull him along slowly, reeling him in with the delicate care of a nimble fly fisherman. (tirer la langue, faire marcher)

HA!